A/N: One time Fitz knew she wasn't real. And one time Jemma knew he was. Was inspired by a tumblr post.
Spoilers: For 3x05 4,722 Hours.
Disclaimer: Sadly this is not a reality in which I own the rights to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Fitz knew she wasn't really there, but after a while he didn't care. He missed her too much, seeing her like this was better than not seeing her at all. In the absence of the real Simmons, she - this apparition - was his coping mechanism. It might be ironic but she was what kept him sane.
xXx
Actual seeing him and going back with him didn't feel real at first. Not after months of talking to someone who wasn't there, talking to Fitz.
Suddenly his first sentence to her after her return from Hydra made sense; it rang in her head over and over: "Is that really you?" That question accurately described her current feelings, not knowing if Fitz was really there, if any of this was real, or just wishful thinking, a mirage brought on by long-term isolation. Had any of it been real? The planet. Her escape. Maybe she was just slowly being digested by the monster plant and everything after her encounter with it was made up, or maybe its meat had poisoned her and she was dying, sprawled out on the sand with only her delusions for company.
Was Will real? And if he were, what was he thinking right now? All alone and abandoned by her, out there in space somewhere. What was it again that she had advised him to do, ask the presumed "real" thing to hit you to see if they are real. She hadn't asked Fitz to hit her or vice versa, but the first night she had laid her head on his lap and touched his leg, and he'd felt real. And every time he took her hand in his she was reminded that this was real, this was not a dream, they'd found their way back to each other.
xXx
Knowing what is real and what isn't real, is not always that easy. Sometimes we need fantasy to cope with reality. The only thing they both knew with any certainty was that the love they felt for one another were real. Even being apart they were not able to fully let go. Clinging to the hope that the other, the real person was out there waiting for them to get back.
A/N: I cannot lie, I have mixed feelings about this new space boyfriend thing, whatever he is. But I'm certainly not going to let him or anything sink my ship. I've come too far.
Fitz's part became very small, my writing mojo is at an all-time low right now, otherwise I would have written more. Plus it needed go out before the new epi.